Re: Dselect docs for beginners
From: Lindsay Allen <allen@cleo.murdoch.edu.au>
> A web page would be the ideal format, so that the main index is kept
> simple and then you have as many levels as you like to demonstrate things.
I wrote the installation manual as HTML (formatting "by hand"), and then
exported the .txt file from Netscape. It worked quite well. If you want
to edit HTML without learning it, download Netscape "Gold" 3.01 from one
of their FTP sites. It has a pretty neat HTML editor. The Linux version
should run fine on Debian - I've been running the SGI version.
> The boss says that I need more stuff to explain concepts.
When people call me "boss" it makes me think they are taking me a whole lot
too seriously :-)
> This really isn't my cup of tea...
You've done fine so far. The trick is to put yourself in the neophyte's
position, read your document, and say "what's a package", etc., as you go
along. If you don't see a way that the answer would be obvious to them,
that means that you need a sentence, generally that's all, to explain it.
The user isn't clueless, they just might not be familiar with our
terminology. This is especially important if they are not native English
speakers and they need a bit of extra context to understand the technical
buzzwords in your document.
I can see what we need next - a bibliography. One with web sites and books
where you can learn about Unix and Linux. Any volunteers for that?
Thanks
Bruce
--
Bruce Perens K6BP Bruce@Pixar.com
Finger Bruce@master.Debian.org for PGP public key.
PGP fingerprint = 88 6A 15 D0 65 D4 A3 A6 1F 89 6A 76 95 24 87 B3
--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org . Trouble? e-mail to Bruce@Pixar.com
Reply to: